Five Reasons Why Akira and Hikaru's
by Schermionie
Summary: ...Meeting in the Toya's Go Salon Wasn't So Important After All. Between crazed insei, taking the internet by storm, amnesia and ghosts leaving and returning as they please, things always work out in the end. Still, lying is a hard habit to break...


Five Reasons Why Akira and Hikaru's Meeting in the Toya's Go Salon Wasn't So Important After All

**Disclaimer:** Nope. Not mine. Hikaru no Go belongs to Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata (woot, I know that off by heart!), and the format was nicked (with lovely permission) from MoonClaimed, then massively exaggerated by me.

**A/N:** Yup. I'm in a parodyish mood all right. I hope you can enjoy this -- though I'll note here that I've not finished the manga and haven't got past the earlier episodes of the anime for quite a while, so there's a medium to high risk of canonical errors. If you spot any, please let me know and I'll do my best to fix 'em. ^_^

Enjoy! All feedback appreciated and desperately hoped for.

* * *

_**1. Education.  
**_

"Sai," said Hikaru abruptly, half-way through an essay. "I need to tell you something..."

"Hm?" muttered the ghost, not looking up from the kifu he was studying.

A bit perturbed, Hikaru continued. "It's just... when we were studying Shusaku's kifu in Go class this week..."

Sai looked up. "Hikaru, what is it?"

"Iwantyoutoplayforme," the thirteen-year-old muttered quickly, ears reddening.

"I want you to play for me?" asked Sai, not quite grasping the meaning of Hikaru's words.

"Um... the other way round."

"But Hikaru I'm fine with you pla-- ohhhh..."

And he trailed off into a glazed-eyed silence.

More than a bit perturbed, Hikaru decided to elaborate. "See, I never really got it. Who Torawho'sit was. Why you were so important... but you were. And you should still be."

It was a weird sensation, willingly giving up his Go -- and his chance to become a Pro for himself. But, after seeing some of the moves that Sai had made in the past, now finally understanding them, he knew it was the right thing to do.

_Be still, my beating heart_! thought Sai, trying to control his heavy breathing. Could this actually be happening? Had the stubborn, rude Hikaru of before finally grown up? _Time with adults has been good for him_...

It was a weird sensation, willingly giving up his Go for another. "Areyousure?" he asked quickly, secretly hoping Hikaru didn't hear him.

"Am I suuuureee?" grinned Hikaru. Evil child. Not so mature after all.

"Yes!"

"Yes."

"Yaaayyy!"

"But I still want to play."

"Oh..."

"In the Go class."

"Oh."

"In some salons."

"Oh."

"And at school."

"Oh."

"And I'm thinking internet Go..."

"Oh."

"But you'll be the Pro! The Pro!"

"Oh... Yay!"

"Someday."

"Not now?" The ghost pouted.

"Nope."

"Oh."

Hikaru grinned. Sai grinned.

Then, the awkward silence. Or, more accurately, then came Glomp Fest of the Year. But afterwards, it was awkward. For a long, long time.

"Ne, Hikaru?" said Sai, just as night began falling.

Hikaru didn't look up from the Go book he was studying. "Hm?"

Not in the least perturbed, Sai continued. "Can I call you Torajiro?"

_Slam_. "No!"

"Oh. Shusaku?"

"No!"

"Oh."

But then, Hikaru thought about it. Have his nickname -- okay, have one person call him it -- after the greatest Go player of all time? Yeah, he could live with that.

"Ohh... fine. You may call me Shusaku. Sometimes."

"Yay! Thank you, Shu-chan!"

"NOT SHU-CHAN!"

---

The next day, Sai and Shu-chan got an Internet Go account.

Sai was unstoppable.

So was Hikaru.

Well, sort of.

_**2. Senpai.**_

There were a lot of people who said the best thing about Go was the rivalries that would spring up. Sai was always going on about how it was important for him to find a rival his own age -- and the internet didn't count.

So Hikaru was very glad for the school Go club. Tsutsui was a monster in the end game, and it was Hikaru's resolve to learn how to be the same that helped him push the boy back until he could _reach _the end game. Sai was amazing, but Hikaru had to resign so often he hadn't ever got to the end of a game before. From Tsutsui, he learned how to count his territory quickly (which improved his maths grades, his parents were pleased to know) and also what the overall consequences of his traps on a game and its results were.

So he became an even _better _trickster.

From Mitani, Hikaru learned that cheating is stupid. And something about money being unimportant... Yeah.

From Kaga, he learned how to manipulate people. How to read an opponent and turn his fears against him. He learned how to deal with aggressive playing, and also how to bring people over to his side. (Or maybe just Kaga: a lot of people might not appreciate being trashed in a game by a 'brat' and then being forced to tutor him. Sai was of course outraged, thinking Hikaru deserved a better teacher, but no one could deny it improved him a lot and gave him motivation to 'prove idiots wrong'.)

From Akari, he learned how to deal with timid playing, how to bring an opponent out of her shell and really make her shine. Akari grew to love the game so much that, although she would never reach Hikaru's level, she _strove _to. That's what drove the importance of rivalry home for Hikaru: it helped you grow.

So, yeah, sometimes he thought: 'this isn't enough'. But he had fun.

And then he heard about the insei programme.

_**3. The Internet, lulz.**_

"Do you play internet Go?!"

...was the first thing the redhead said to him.

Seeing this bleached-banged boy looking rather affronted by the greeting, the redhead decided to tone it down a little.

"Well, whatever," he said, dragging the new insei behind him. "You _must _have heard the theories."

Hikaru had, of course, but decided he didn't care to again. "Nah," he said, blithely side-stepping the crazy boy. "Oh well." And he walked off.

Or tried to.

"You're acting very suspicious!"

...was what the redhead boy called after him.

_Dammit_! thought Hikaru. _Is my cover blown already? I gotta be careful with this one_...

"Suspicious for what?" he called back, turning round slightly.

"Um... well, see... Never mind. But you must have heard the theories."

This guy wasn't even making sense... He'd clearly avoided the question. "_Fine_. What theories?"

"Well, it's about this Internet Go user -- HikaruSai. Sometimes, his Go is, like, unstoppable! I played against him -- and _I_, Waya Yoshitaka, stood _no _chance. But, like, oth--"

"Wait, so your name's Waya? Nice to know, _at last_."

"Yeah, well, so like I was saying sometimes he's unstoppable. Undefeatable. But other times, he's really... not himself. Quite good, but amateur level."

"Amateur--? You!!"

"What do you mean, 'you'?! Why are you getting so upset?"

It was very, very difficult to reign himself in. But he had his cover to think of. "Uhh... well, see... Never mind. You were saying about SaiHikaru?"

"HikaruSai! So I'm thinking, why the two names? And the people online are thinking," he gestured Hikaru closer -- who refused to move -- before giving up and carrying on in his reverent tone, "multiple personalities."

It was hard to reign his laughter in. Sai, lucky guy, had no such restrictions. The cover, the cover!

"And the other theories?"

Glare.

"Not that that one isn't good or anything."

"Yes, well. We've also got the hospitalisation theory: a man with amnesia is trying to get his memory back by playing Go online. Sometimes, it comes back, but other times only certain bits do... like memories of when he'd been playing for only a few years. So that's why his skill level changes so much."

Seeing his audience actually _paying attention_, Waya decided to share a theory he'd concocted himself. "And then there's --"

"Wait, wait!" interrupted Hikaru. "Have you ever considered it's just two people, sharing an account?"

Waya's eyes widened. "I've never thought of it like that before..." he muttered before rushing off.

Or he tried to.

A dark-haired, older-looking boy who Hikaru recognised as a fellow insei was holding him by the arm, preventing his escape. "Waya," he said, "what have I told you about rushing off like that?"

"Ah... but Isumi..."

"Focus!"

"...Yes, _Sir_."

Isumi turned to the smirking Hikaru. "Sorry about my friend," he said. "He doesn't know much about manners."

"And you're trying to teach him, huh?"

Isumi nodded.

"Good luck with that."

"Gah, you brat!" growled Waya. "You could learn some yourself."

Hikaru bowed deeply. "My name is Shindo Hikaru. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to working with your guidance, and I'll do my best not to let you down and..."

Okay, so Sai would probably kill him if he didn't stop mocking them all now. Or try to.

"Shindo Hikaru, huh?" muttered Waya. "I'll remember that." He shook himself free of Isumi's restraining arm. "Well, it was nice to meet you," he said before walking briskly off.

Or he tried to.

Isumi held his friend's arm back once again. "My name is Isumi Shinichiro. Nice to meet you."

"Issuumiii," whined the redhead. "I want to tell everyone about my new theory!"

Isumi ignored him. "If your name is Shindo Hikaru, I take it you're the insei who was sponsored by Ogata Seiji?"

"Yup," said Hikaru blandly.

"Wait, how did _you _get sponsored by _him_?" asked Waya incredulously; a second later, his eyes got increasingly wide, his mouth hung open, and a horrified look drew over his face. "What did you have to _do_?"

Waya had heard the horror stories.

Hikaru looked at Isumi, silently begging for an explanation for this weirdness, but the dark-haired teen was obviously curious.

Better answer, then.

"...I asked him."

_**4. Opportunities for Honesty.  
**_

Toya Akira looked back into the room, straight into Hikaru's eyes.

Waya stared at Shindo, mirroring his hated Toya. "Shindo, why did Toya look at you like that? Are you... _rivals _or something?" Shindo's Go was amazing -- why he was an insei and not a Pro no one but he knew -- so it wouldn't be out of the question or anything... it would make sense in a weird way... they both had weird hair...

"Huh?" said Hikaru. "He looked back at me? You sure it was _me_?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"What a weirdo."

_Huh, _thought Waya, a bit disappointed. _Shindo's so honest. He _can't_ be lying about being HikaruSai. But that means I've been on the wrong track all along..._

"Damn, damn, damn!" Waya cursed loudly.

_**5. Fate.**_

In all their time together, Sai had disappeared twice.

The first time he'd left a little note on his fan ('Just popping off to the spirit world! Sorry, but something came up. Good luck in your Kisei match! xxx Sai'), so Hikaru hadn't been worried. Though, maybe that had just been a dream...

In any case, he'd known Sai would return. And the specifics didn't matter because he _had_.

But only _after _Hikaru tied the match. And lost the subsequent rematch. By _one and a half moku_!!

Question 1) Shindo Hikaru: this is one of the few losses in your career. Was it nerves? You played quite differently than the style we've come to expect, too. Why is this? How does it feel to lose your title?

Excuse 1) Well... I think -- I think I must have amnesia. And... my head feels pretty bad... Who are you?

The second time, just after fully recovering from his dreadful, unexplainable 'amnesia', things were a little more complicated.

Question 2) What the hell, Shindo, I thought you said you _weren_'_t _HikaruSai!

Excuse 2) Ehhh... who's that...?

It was difficult, to explain this one. He eventually settled with how he'd met HikaruSai in the hospital and learned from him there. That's why they were so similar. But it wasn't always easy, lying to your friends...

And Sai never said if he was coming back or not. Hikaru just had to hope.

Luckily, he did come back. But when he _did_, _he _had amnesia.

It was like some great cosmic joke.

---

"_I_'_m _Sai?"

"Yup."

"Yay!"

---

Finally, Hikaru was going to play against Toya Akira. Properly.

He'd played against Toya Koyo, both as Sai and himself -- hell, he'd played against Toya's _mum_. Damn that was weird. But only across the internet had he managed to play the great Toya Akira, the man who, under different circumstances, might have been his rival.

"I've seen a lot of your kifu," said Toya, looking down at their finished game. "And I've heard the rumours. Do you... have two different Go's?"

Hikaru had already planned to tell Toya everything. He'd kept it secret for so long, now, that he would go mad if he didn't tell _someone_. And he didn't know Toya. Sure, there were misconceptions already, rumours heard... but he'd never lied to Toya about Sai. And he didn't want to start now, when he finally had the chance to get to know this man.

Still, he hadn't expected to just get _asked _like that.

"Um... isn't that a silly way of saying it?" he blurted out. Damn it, he was avoiding the question.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my two styles are similar, right? Maybe they're just both a part of me.

"Or maybe," he continued, voice gaining a hint of denial, "it doesn't matter."

Toya's eyes narrowed. Intense. "I've also heard that you like to avoid the question."

_Ah, my reputation precedes me. ...Wait, damn!_

Sai looked on from behind his fan._ Maybe it's time I go for good_, he thought sadly. Whatever Hikaru said, rivals didn't just chase each other. They fought across a board... their Go revealing everything.

_I_'_ve shown the world, and future generations, my skill. And I've got to give Hikaru a proper chance to, too. He can still grow, that's the amazing thing. And I, as his teacher, am proud of that. He is my legacy to the world, and if I go now he'll be able to play himself, develop his own talent -- without feeling guilty..._

Still smiling, Sai reached out to glomp Hikaru one last time before disappearing into nothingness.

---

"And that's exactly what happened," said Hikaru, finishing his long monologue.

There was silence as Toya took it all in. "You were kidnapped?" he asked incredulously.

**-Owari.**

* * *

["Shindo, why did Toya look at you like that? Are you... _lovers _or something?"]

How badly I wanted to write that. xD


End file.
